Bangladesh to deploy military to stem election violence, as main opposition parties vow boycott

Updated
Sun 22 Dec 2013, 6:50 AM AEDT

Photo

Bangladeshi riot police clash with activists.

AFP / Munir uz Zaman

Bangladesh will deploy thousands of troops next week in an effort to contain deadly political violence ahead of controversial general elections set for January 5.

Heavily armed troops have already fanned out in major trouble spots across the country but an "official deployment" will start on December 26, the Election Commission said on Friday.

The Election Commission did not say how many troops will be deployed but local media has put the number at around 50,000.

The move comes amid mounting tension in the country with the opposition and a key ruling party ally boycotting the parliamentary polls.

The government insists the vote will go ahead as planned.

Bangladesh opposition denounces poll as rigged

The main opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) and its allies have been staging protests since late October to force prime minister Sheikh Hasina to step down so that a neutral caretaker government can oversee the election.

They say such a move is the only way to ensure the poll is free and fair.

But Ms Hasina refuses to accept the arrangement, which has been used in previous national polls, and has ruled out the possibility of rescheduling the elections despite mounting diplomatic pressure.

Three rounds of UN-brokered talks between the government and opposition failed to resolve the dispute, plunging the nation into its worst crisis in decades.

As a result, the BNP continues to not field any candidates for the election.

Meanwhile, Jamaat, the largest Islamist party which has been barred from contesting the polls, is also furious with the government after one of its leaders was executed for war crimes.

Abdul Quader Molla was hanged last week after Bangladesh's contentious war crimes tribunal found him guilty of rape, murder and mass murder when he was a leader of a pro-Pakistan militia that fought against Bangladesh's independence in 1971.